GAWAT, GAWAT, GAWAT...!! AKU LAMBAT LAUN MEMBAUR DENGAN DESA INI, NIH!!?
Miwa dan Tama keluar pulau untuk studi tur sekolah. Lalu maestro Handa, sang kaligrafer muda yang tampan, untuk pertama kalinya mencoba menjadi penyiar pengumuman untuk seluruh desa!
Selain itu, dia mengesampingkan kaligrafi untuk memasak kue dan membantu Hiroshi yang sekarang ini “Kuroshi”, dalam latihan wawancara kerja. Apa dia akan baik-baik saja, ya...?
World: The art once again is simple but very effective in conveying emotions and mood. The world building is small and muted once again with a lot of emphasis in character.
Story: Beautiful as charming to start. Muted and heartbreaking to end. Hopeful to finish. I love the last shot of Sensei holding Naru’s hand. A fun little tale and also an earned little character tale. This series continues to be so good at these small emotions.
Characters: Beautiful character work with Sensei. It is funny and over the top when it needs to be and quiet and introspective when it needs to be. Absolutely wonderful.
Reaching the height of its contrasting elements, the eighth volume of BARAKAMON positions Handa-sensei at the apex of social integration with his island family: namely, the preservation of youthful ambition and life, and the respectful observance of their forthcoming if not inevitable absence.
Youth. Miwa and Tama head out on a class trip to Nagasaki and Kagoshima. The middle schoolers really have no idea how to have fun and follow directions at the same time, and so it's no surprise to find them driving their teacher crazy, constantly getting into trouble, and for Miwa, coming down with a cold at the worst possible moment. The only thing driving these two forward is their commitment to getting sensei a souvenir.
Nascent adulthood. Hiroshi prepares for his job interview, independently at first, until sensei catches wind of it and tries his darndest to educate the high school kid on the troubles that await him in the real world. Naturally, sensei is a terrible interviewer, and so it's up to Naru and Hina to add some flair to the mock-interview atmosphere, rightfully prodding Hiroshi if his future goals and ambitions are as legitimate and hard-fought as the boy believes them to be.
Adulthood and beyond. Toward the end of this volume of BARAKAMON, there's a death in the village. And while there's plenty of humor to be found with sensei trying to absorb local custom, at times even staying above the fray, there's an inevitable emotional crash as the story comes to a close. In a village as small as Nanatsutake, everyone takes care of everyone else. Always. ("They say a person's character shows in their funeral day.")
And as such, as sensei invariably weaves himself into the stories of these characters at each critical juncture of their lives -- whether at the pinnacle of innocence (Naru) or the sunset of a life well-lived (Kiyoba) -- he further becomes a reader-analog for traversing all the indecisiveness, curiosity, and frustration inherent in aging or of becoming one's own person. Sensei sees children without parents, so he plays with them; he encounters neglected young mothers, and speaks to them; he meets wayward young adults, and mentors them to the best of his ability; and in the presence of death, he bows modestly, and says, "Thanks for all your hard work."
After over a year of not being able to get more volumes of this series, my library finally got volumes 8 and 9 in, with volume 10 on order. I'm reminded again, after reading volume 8, what a charming series this is about a small village on the Goto Islands in Japan.
I'm quite enjoying Barakamon! It's such a touching and endearing story, and seeing the rather firm, prim and proper Seiishu Handa interact with the rustic islanders always has hilarity ensue. This volume had a rather somber story in dealing with the death of beloved community member. What I enjoyed is how the village children were written in this volume: kids don't quite understand death and passing and I think they were written appropriately. The village kids crying out to Grandma Kiyo as her hearse passed by, "Good bye Grandma!" was so touching and had me in tears. The ending with Handa-Sensei walking Naru hand in hand was also adorable.
This was a really beautiful volume! I really enjoyed how well-paced it was! You had the ridiculousness of them trying to make a cake along with the girls middle grade trip! Then we got to see Handa attempt to help Hiroshi prepare for his interview which was equally hilarious and thoughtful. And then the entire volume was rounded off in such a heartfelt way! Truly beautiful how much one person can touch another!!
The day to day village life just appeals to me more now than it did in the past. There is a good amount of connection, the old woman from last volume passed away in this one, Hiroshi is still working towards figuring out his future, the art is pleasant and it’s all an enjoyable way to pass some time.
Being exiled and living in a rural island where everyday life seems mundane and boring. But sei handa’s character continues to evolve as the series progress from a very shy, secluded person, he became sociable and mature. Not only that, sei-naru’s tandem is quite a hit, the other characters as well like hiro, tama, miwa, hina and the other kods-their antics were hilarious!
This is such a fun manga. I love the way the local dialect is interwoven into this series. Apparently making words a lot longer is a thing in not just Nagasaki the city, but in the whole prefecture. This volume had an especially well done funeral scene, which was very emotional. It has just the right balance between funny and serious issues, which makes this such a good series.
This volume takes a few different directions with the series - there’s a school trip arc which has a few laugh out loud moments. There’s also a sad (that’s all I can say to avoid spoilers) situation which the people in the village try to cope with. In all of it, there’s a hopefulness that I’ve come to associate with this manga.
Really quite moving, but still with the usual well-done humor.
Poor Naru: she gets her very first souvenir (a rock) only to lose it within the hour. These losses can hurt when you're 6. Or wait, she's 7 now. They had the birthday party with insects a volume or two back.
My heart, I liked that character! Also, I love how we saw the way kids reacted to death. Of course, Naru has a better understanding of it since I'm pretty sure her parents passed away, but it's still not confirmed.
After finishing reading this vol It made me see myself when my grandma left this world. As I sat and read it it brought tears to my eyes. It indicates death very well. Delivered in a natural and normal way. Death is a normal thing that humans cannot escape. This is the normalcy of life.
This one, this one so reminds me of Yotsuba. I kept thinking this is probably how Yuosuke ended up adopting Yotsuba. I know that the two are unrelated but they just seem to go together real well.